UP: SP announces candidates for RS polls, renominates Jaya Bachchan

Lucknow, Feb 13 (PTI) The Samajwadi Party (SP) on Tuesday renominated Jaya Bachchan to the Rajya Sabha, and announced the candidature of former MP Ramjilal Suman and retired IAS officer Alok Ranjan for the polls to the Upper House of Parliament from Uttar Pradesh.

They filed their nomination papers for the elections at the Uttar Pradesh assembly complex, where SP chief Akhilesh Yadav, party general secretary Shivpal Singh Yadav and other party leaders were present.

Returning Officer and Special Secretary of the Uttar Pradesh Assembly Braj Bhushan Dubey said that all three candidates have submitted their nomination papers in two sets each. The scrutiny of the papers will be held on February 16 from 11 am onwards, he said.

Bachchan's fourth term as a Rajya Sabha member is ongoing and the actor-turned-politician has been renominated for a fifth term.

Suman is a four-time MP from Firozabad. He became an MP in 1977 on a Janata Party ticket, in 1989 on a Janta Dal ticket, and in 1999 and 2004 on an SP ticket.

Former Indian Administrative Service (IAS) officer Ranjan was the chief secretary of Uttar Pradesh during the SP government.

Elections for 56 Rajya Sabha seats spread across 15 states are scheduled to be held on February 27, and the last date for filing nominations is February 15.

In the 403-member Uttar Pradesh Assembly, the BJP has 252 members, the SP has 108 and the Congress has two. The SP and the Congress are opposition parties in the state and also partners in the INDIA bloc, an alliance of parties to take on the BJP in the Lok Sabha polls.

BJP allies Apna Dal (Sonelal) has 13 members, while the NISHAD party has six in the House. RLD has nine members, SBSP has six, Jansatta Dal Loktantrik has two and BSP has one. Four seats are vacant. A candidate needs 37 first preference votes to secure a seat in the Rajya Sabha. When SP spokesperson Rajendra Chaudhary was asked that the party could fall short by a vote to get all three to the Rajya Sabha, he told PTI, "We will appeal to all MLAs to vote by listening to their conscience and all of our candidates will win." Asked about the choice of candidates, SP MLA Manoj Pandey told reporters in Lucknow that Suman belongs to the Dalit community, while Bachchan is a famous actor.

The BJP has announced seven Rajya Sabha candidates from Uttar Pradesh. PTI